sariwa

Fall 2020 Update:

I've changed a lot of this game after sitting on it for a long time and determining that my original concept was just much more difficult to achieve than I had hoped. Now, I bring a fresh version of this game made for casual fun (that many Filipino Americans like myself) might find novel because of the many tidbits of culture I add to the game. I hope you enjoy! (screenshots are early concept work)

Spring 2020:

This is a narrative game set in a small island off the coast of Mindoro, Philippines. It revolves around 13 year-old Marc, who has always had a fascination with cooking, but was always told the kitchen wasn’t his place. The game begins when Marc is given the chance to cook for the first time, and you as the player must gather some ingredients from the recipe he’s given. Over the years these written recipes have been scribbled over and altered - now all that’s left are ingredients he can find on his homestead. Does he dare venture away and change these recipes? As Marc finds new ingredients, learns more about both his culture and the ones beyond his home, and discovers a passion for cooking, he also begins to strain his familial relationships.

As an additional theme to the version of this game I’m turning in for the final, I wanted to note that the idea that queer people exist in conflict is especially relevant as the Anti-Terror bill in the Philippines has just passed. The idea that people living in a perceived contrary to the norm is more dangerous for Filipino people now more than ever. The themes of xenophobia and homophobia go hand in hand in this narrative, and I wanted some of the familial pressures in the game to model the restrictive governing the Philippines is now under.